With the increased use of underground utilities, it has become more critical to locate and verify the placement of buried utilities before installation of additional underground utilities or before other excavation or digging work is performed. Conventional digging and excavation methods such as shovels, post hole diggers, powered excavators, and backhoes may be limited in their use in locating buried utilities as they may tend to cut, break, or otherwise damage the lines during use.
Devices have been previously developed to create holes in the ground to non-destructively expose underground utilities to view. One design uses high pressure air delivered through a tool to loosen soil and a vacuum system to vacuum away the dirt after it is loosened to form a hole. Another system uses high pressure water delivered by a tool to soften the soil and create a soil/water slurry mixture. The tool is provided with a vacuum system for vacuuming the slurry away.